Super Mario World Z
by Super Nintendo Power
Summary: Mario sets out on a journey, and soon learns he must become more powerful then ever if he wishes to complete it successfully. Inspired by Dragon Ball Z.
1. Chapter 1

"_Only the strongest shall survive."_

Mario climbed out of the pipe slowly, pulling himself up with relative ease. He sighed as he swung his legs over the side of the pipe, and sat there for a while, staring at his small, two bedroom house. Home Sweet Home.

Mario pushed himself off the side of the pipe and landed smoothly on his feet, unto the grass below. He walked up the path to the mailbox sitting in front of the house. He stuck his hand inside and shuffled his hand in search of papers. The mail must not have arrived, for it was empty.

Mario shuffled up the steps towards the front door. Reaching for the handle, he turned it, and pulled. The door swung open, revealing total darkness.

"Hello? Luigi? Are you home?" Mario stepped over the threshold and flipped on the light. The Lone bulb over the table flickered once before it clicked into the on position.

Mario noticed that the usually sparkly clean table had a piece of paper sitting on the top. Frowning, Mario grabbed it, and flipped it over. The Words written on the note were as follows:

_Dear Bro,_

_I've gone to see Daisy for a few days. Something has come up, Sorry I couldn't say good bye in person. I left some Lasagna in the fridge, if you want any. Anyway, I should be back soon. Wish me luck!_

_Love, Luigi._

Mario briefly wondered why Luigi seemed to be such in a hurry scrawling his letter. It was brief, for one thing, and did not go into much detail. Mario, after a little thought, simply thought it to be excitement. Luigi had always had a bit of a soft spot for the Princess Daisy, anyhow. It was probably nothing important.

Mario threw the note in the trash as he went for the fridge, and saw the lasagna cooling on a lower rack. He grabbed it, threw it on a plate, and put it in the microwave. Bottoms up!

As he was waiting for his snack to heat up, Mario took the liberty of making sure Luigi had not taken anything of value with him on his trip. The house did not have much, but Mario did not wish for old keepsakes to leave the house anytime soon.

Mario headed over to the other room of the house, the bedroom. After a brief search of the chest, Mario ascertained that all of his things that he valued most were still inside. He could not say the same for Luigi's possessions, but he trusted his brother just enough to care for his belongings.

The Beeper on the Microwave went off, signaling that the snack had finished heating. As Mario turned to face the door to the kitchen, his eyes fell upon the photograph he always kept on his bedside table. He could not say exactly what possessed him to walk over and examine the old picture, perhaps he had just been too long in reliving old memories.

The photograph depicted the scene of Mario's very first adventure, the construction site. Mario could not recall the name of the building, now that it was completed, but it didn't matter to him anyway. What had happened there was.

There a much younger man stood, his arm around a lovely woman his age. They could not have been more than Twenty. To their left, an incredibly muscled black man stood, smiling at the camera. In the background towards the right, you could just make out several men carrying animal restraining equipment, surrounding a giant beast.

The beeper rang out again, and Mario was snapped out of his memoir. He shuffled towards the microwave, and grabbed the plate.

"Ow." He said, wincing. It was quite hot. He carried it towards the table, and set it down quickly, but carefully. He went and grabbed a fork, and sat down.

How long had it been since he had last seen that city? Nearly twenty years. He was not born in that grand city, yet he had spent most of his childhood there, and had worked there for a period. How much could have things changed?

Mario dug his fork into the delicious snack and began to prepare to chow down, when frantic knocks could be heard from the front door.

"_Oh no."_ Mario thought, his heart sinking. _"Not Again…" _

He heaved himself to his feet and practically ran for the door. He opened it quickly enough to warrant a thud from the wall it slammed against.

"Mario, it's awful!" The Toad wailed, tears leaking from his eyes. "It's Bowser. He's on the roof of the Castle with Peach, we can't get up there, we have no idea what's going on, you have to help us!"

Mario nodded. His quiet evening seemed to have gone out the window, but now was not the time to dwell on such things. He had a princess to save.

…

Mario dashed up to the Castle gates, ignoring screams from some of the younger toads, and the shouts of encouragement coming from the older populace of Toad Town, all of whom had seen this same exact scene hundreds of times over the years.

"Mario! Go get him!"

"Oh, do be careful!"

"Can I have an autograph?"

"Oh, Mario. You're such a valiant knight. Reach for the heavens, and rescue the woman you love! Ah, it's so romantic…"

"Mario! Go get some! Ow!"

Mario jumped the gate, soaring through the air, and landed with a thud on the trail leading up to the castle. His eyes forward, he dashed up to the Castle at full speed.

Peach's Castle looked nearly the same as it did thirteen years prior, when Bowser stole several of Peach's Power Stars to create his own fantasy worlds in the Castle walls. Even though the castle had been redesigned slightly in the years since due to Bowser's nearly weekly kidnappings of the fair Princess Peach. The Castle had been rebuilt so many times, the ground surrounding the castle did not remotely resemble the plain, hilly, countryside it once did. Monuments designed to survive the typical Bowser attack were everywhere, from statues to Mario and Peach standing hand in hand, to a small flower garden planted using seeds from Flower Fields.

The Koopa Cruiser Mark III, Bowser's most recent personal flagship, was parked in mid-air, hovering a little ways above the roof of the castle. Mario stopped at the door, and tried the handle. It wouldn't budge. Undeterred, Mario turned and ran towards the small pond where he occasionally fished with the Toad Town locals.

The Cannon was in the same spot as it was thirteen years before. Mario dove inside, and the barrel of the cannon rose up out of the ground and pointed towards the castle. Mario made sure he was aligned properly, and then let loose.

The blast sent him flying, over towards the Castle. Mario did his best to maintain his proper flight path, but found, to his annoyance, that he had been so long in firing himself from a cannon while proper gravity was applied had seriously undermined his aim, and thus, had aimed himself too far.

He descended rapidly, and slammed against the tiles of the roof at full force. He hurriedly leapt to his feet before he could slide too far, and righted himself and stopped his propulsion.

"Mario!" A voice cried. Mario turned and saw the Princess Toadstool waving frantically at him. The Balcony, usually used as a spot to watch stars, was occupied by the Princess herself, three little pink glasses, a table, some chairs, a teapot, and the Koopa King himself, Bowser. He was calmly sitting on top of three of the Princess's little chairs to support his rather bulky frame, and was sipping, surprisingly delicately, from one of the cups.

Mario hid his surprise as he dropped down from the ceiling and landed unto the balcony.

"I hope you didn't get hurt too banged up blasting out of that cannon." Peach fussed as she looked Mario over. "Hmm… Your hat is a little dusty." She brushed it off, and gestured towards Bowser. "Sorry about the front door. He insisted we keep it locked."

"I have a reputation to keep." Bowser said softly, as his eyes trailed to the ground.

Mario glanced at Peach, trying to convey his surprise to his face, hoping she would explain. Bowser did not seem his usual overconfident, boisterous self, but today seemed much more subdued.

"Anyway, Bowser came over today and said he'd like to talk to you." Peach said cheerfully as she cut Mario a slice of cake. "He wasn't sure where you lived, so he asked me to call for you. Of course,I could have just wrote you a letter. I was supposed to be busy today..." She handed him the plate and began pouring him a cup of tea. "But I just told Bowser to pretend to kidnap me instead. You get here faster, and I get out of work sooner. See? Everyone's happy."

She beamed at the Plumber and the Koopa King. Mario barely had time to marvel at how much trust she had in the man who kidnapped her nearly fifty two times a year, sometimes more, when she pulled out her chair and sat down.

"Anyway, is it alright if I stick around? I hate to feel that I'm leaving guests unattended."

"You can stay. This should be quick." Bowser said. He sighed again, his cup quivering, and he set it down gently. "Well. Mario. It's nice to see you."

"I suppose it's nice to see you as well." Mario replied. Was this some sort of trap?

"I know you're wondering why I decided to take some time off and come see you, but the truth is… I need some help."

"Help?" Mario repeated.

Bowser led an entire army of various creatures. Indeed, if it weren't for the fact that the Toads almost completely owned all of the Mushroom Kingdom, he would easily be the ruler of the entire country due to the fact that so many species looked up to him. It was hard to believe that Bowser could not find help elsewhere, besides his worst enemy.

"There's a pipe, far to the West." Bowser began. "It's unusual, this pipe. It's in plain sight, and yet, it goes to a great city, that is not of this nation… No, not even this world."

Mario listened intently, his eyes glued to Bowser's face. Peach stirred the tea with her finger, her attention was grasped.

"My scientists have been examining this pipe for years." Bowser continued. "The city is populated entirely by humans. I… sent Bowser Junior and some others to investigate further, perhaps recruit some more troops." His eyes flew downwards again. "They have not returned."

Bowser Junior. The Youngest of Bowser's eight children missing. That explained everything. For the past few years, Mario had been tussling with the young prince, who had, much like his father, grown fond of fighting with the heroic plumber. Mario was of the opinion that Junior was Bowser's favorite, due in part to being the youngest, and the one he had the most in common with."

"Mario. I can't trust send anyone else in there. And… I can't fit, myself. Please, please, you have to make sure he's alright! I can't stand the thought of-"

"I'll do it." Mario said bluntly as he stood up. "I'm leaving now. Thank you for the cake." He said to Peach. He turned back to Bowser, "Don't touch her while I'm gone. If you do, you'll be in for a beating."

Bowser could not contain his tears. "O-o-h thank you…" He spluttered. "Thank you so much… I will! I-"

Mario turned back to Peach. "Luigi's out of town, so you should ask The Master to loan you Chan and Lee for a few days, just in case something happens. I'll see you later."

…

End Chapter.

A/N: And here we go. The first step of a great journey. What adventures shall Mario encounter in this great Journey? Will he rescue Bowser Junior? What foes shall he do battle?

Anyway, I hope you are fairly intriqued. I have been thinking about this story for a while, and it feels good to put down on paper.

To be honest, I'm sort of surprised at how cold I imagine Mario to be… and I don't feel I really did Bowser's character justice. I think I will improve with practice, however.

Now, I would like to make one thing clear: This is inspired, not based off of, Dragon Ball Z. That means that the story will have Dragon Ball Z elements, but will not follow the Saga word for word. Just take my word for it… Some of you will like it.

I hope you had fun reading this.


	2. A Myserious Pipe

_"There comes a time in every man's life when he realizes, deep inside, that he can't ever go back to that place he once called home." _

Mario turned and ran. He lowered his powerful legs and let loose. His momentum from his frantic dash and his incredible jump allowed him to soar over the small chasm that kept him from his goal. His arms outstretched, he landed smoothly on his heels, and stepped a few paces to slow down.

The Large green pipe was visible from here. It was here, in the middle of nowhere, where Bowser Junior had disappeared. Mario walked over to the pipe. His adventures had taken him all over the world, and he had gone through thousands of pipes much like this one. He had gained much knowledge over the inner workings and physics of work pipes, but by simply examing this one, Mario could see that it was far different then anything he had ever seen before.

The color was the same familiar shade of green, and the material the pipe was made of felt the same, and yet the Pipe itself was radiating a sort of aura, that Mario could not place. However, it was unusual and disturbing enough to make the hairs on his head stand up. What sort of bizaare power could this be?

There was only one way to find out. Mario had never been one to shy away from the Unknown, and this pipe was no different. Mario leapt onto the pipe and squared his feet together. He closed his eyes as the familiar feeling and sound soared throughout his body, and down he went.

As Mario zoomed through the pipe, he could not help but notice that although he seemed to be moving much faster then usual, the pipe itself had still not come to an end yet. Most pipes were nearly instantenous. Mario could not fathom why this particular pipe was so different. Great distances, he supposed, would naturally take a little bit longer to get to the end of. But Mario had taken several Pipes criss crossing the globe, and they had rarely taken more then a minute to travel several thousand miles. How far could he be traveling, then? And a more pressing question... WHERE could he be going? He supposed that the answer to that would come with time.

Mario felt his center of gravity re orient himself. The Pipe had changed directions. He was nearly there. As he saw a glimmer of sunlight, he steeled himself for whatever came next.

As he rose out of the pipe, Mario stared in wonder.

To his left, a great body of water streched out, glistening beautifully in the sunlight, off in the distance, a land mass could be seen.

But to his right, a great city of steel awaited him. Mario could scarcely believe it. Mario had been to many great cities in his time, but only one like this.

What seemed like millions of people, not toads, not Koopas, not Goombas, but actual, genuine, real humans were everywhere in sight. Some were staring out at the boats in the harbor, taking pictures with a camera. Others were tossing a Frisbee back and forth on a small patch of grass. Still others were strolling on the sidewalk, chatting on what seemed to be small, portable telephones. And the cars! Oh, so many cars.

Mario sat down in front of the pipe as he examined the city. He did not believe that there were many cities in the Mushroom city that contained so many people of one race. Usually, large cities, like Mushroom City, had a large diversity in the population. Many Toads, Goombas, Koopas, Bom-Ombs, and others lived together in densely packed Urban enviroments. However, this city may be even larger then Mushroom City, and it's populace seemed to be inhabited almost entirely by humans, who, according to population polls, who by far the most rare species in the Mushroom Kingdom, if not the entire world. (It is worth mentioning that Mario, Peach, and Luigi are the only residents of the Mushroom Kingdom to be considered 'human')

As his shock wore down, Mario stepped off the pipe and onto the grass below. Instantly, the pipe retreated into the ground. Mario glanced behind. There's no getting back that way, it seemed.

Mario was anxious. Not only was he in some sort of unknown city, he now had no way back. Briefly, he wondered whether Luigi would arrive to help him if he never came back. No, thoughts like that were not productive.

_"I have a job to do."_

Mario swallowed his fears and began to walk. As he got to the edge of the small grass patch, the frisbee the two guys were throwing flopped down in front of him.

"Come on, man! Make a better throw next time!" One of them complained.

"Yeah, yeah... Hey! You! Red 'stache! Help a brother out?"

Mario nodded as he bent over to pick up the frisbee. As he wound back to throw it, however, his eye caught something, large over the horizon. He turned his head to get a better look as he let the frisbee fly towards the two players, who made a mad dash to try and get the flying disc first. However, this did not mean much to Mario, however, has he had noticed that maybe this city wasn't so alien after all.

Out in the middle of the water was a small island. The Island itself was not important. What was standing on it was. A great statue, nearly as tall as most of the buildings in the general area Mario was standing in. It seemed to be made of some sort of green stone from this distance. It was a depiction of a Lady, wearing a robe, a tiara, and holding up a torch.

Laby Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty.

New York.

It seemed Mario had found his way back to the city of his childhood.

...

A/N: I apologize in advance: I have never been to New York, and I feel that my descriptions of the city will be completely inaccurate. I am pretty much basing my descriptions off of random things I noticed while I watched my brother play Spider Man 2 the other day, and I'm not even sure if that is completely accurate. Ah, well.

And now, to my surprise, I do not have a word count bar. If I do, I can't find it. I feel this chapter is overtly short, but as I write this, I have no means on which to check. I think this is where I wanted to leave off anyway, though, so I suppose that this is good enough for now.

Hope you had fun.


	3. This City and Me

_"Feeling pain is not weakness. Submitting to it is."_

Mario sat down, his legs hanging over the water, as he stared at the statue.

The Statue of Liberty. A symbol of freedom. It had been so long since he had seen it last. It had been only twenty years, and he had not even recognized his own hometown as he entered.

Mario's gaze drifted towards the buildings. For some indiscernible reason, the towers were here no more, which baffled Mario to no end. Why should such important buildings by torn down?

Mario was uneasy of what was to come. What other things have changed? What other buildings he had seen for years were gone, how many stores had shut down, how many people had disappeared?

People.

New York.

It had been nearly twenty years, and yet he had never come back, even for a visit. How were all of his and Luigi's old friends?

It had been a long time since the Mario Bros had left New York behind in order to pursue the flighty temptress, Adventure. Indeed, they had left their entire lives behind. Their jobs, friends, and hometown... all left behind, and only because Mario craved a little more action.

Mario was lost in thought as he walked through the streets, hardly knowing where his feet were taking him. Seeing his old town brought back quite a few memories.

Not very many people knew Mario back then. He was simply nothing more then a young (And very handsome) man who was down on his luck, forced to fix leaky pipes and drains for a living. His brother Luigi, on the other hand, had received several scholarships to colleges all around the country, but as the brothers were young orphans, there was no money to pay for tuition. And so, upon graduating as valedictorian in his class, Luigi immediatly began helping his brother with the plumbing.

Mario had dropped out of school his Sophomore year, following the death of their Mother. He had always liked school, and was somewhat envious of his twin brother Luigi's prowess at mathematics and machinery. However, if any one of them was going to make money, it was Luigi. But in the end, they could barely make ends meet at home, let alone allow Luigi to attend college.

For two years, it was nothing but cheap noodles for dinner, and work work work all throughout the day. Mario had always viewed these days as his darkest hour. He felt utterly powerless under the heating, electricity, and food bills all piling up on one another. Neither Brother had much time for having mindless fun like most people their age. It was truly infuriating. The only people Mario and Luigi had were each other.

And then, he came.

A monstrous Ape that seemed to have come from nowhere erupted into the street where Mario, desperate for a quick buck, had been working as a wood figurist, creating artsy little soevenirs for tourists on the spot. The ape had grabbed Mario's customer, and hoisted her through the air and onto a nearby building that was under construction.

A crowd quickly formed under the building, and Mario looked up in wonder as the ape sat the woman down on a platform above his head, and leered down at the people below. The woman herself was out of her mind.

"Please! Someone! Help me!"

Mario looked around. Many of these people were far bigger and stronger then he, but none of them were stepping forward to try and help the poor girl. He steeled himself, and walked forward. Ladders were placed in several places around the structure their purpose unknown to Mario.

Mario was terrified, of the sort that can only be understood by people who willingly put themselves on the line every day for the sake of others.

_"High how can you get?"_ Mario had asked himself. _"As high as I can."_

Mario was never quite sure why the construction crew had a whole bunch of barrels sitting all by themselves, but whatever their purpose was originally intended for, they were soon going to be part of his nightmares.

The ape roared and grabbed a barrel. Heaving it over it's head, it tossed it down the side of the building, it's angle heading towards Mario himself.

The platform was too narrow to move out of the way. If he went down the ladder, there was always a chance that the barrel could decide to change direction and whack him in the face as he tried to descend.

He had been the best freshman high jumper the Track team at his high school had ever seen. Why not.

He leaped as high as he could into the air: he did not look down: he looked forward. He was not going to just give up just because some sort of Ape with an attitude problem wanted to mess with his customers.

The barrel rolled past him, and shattered as it contacted an orange beam. Mario had ignored this. He had run forward, towards the next ladder. The ape roared as it threw more barrels. Mario, his confidence in his ability restored, leapt them all. In his growing frustration, the ape grabbed his prize and fled to a higher level as soon as Mario approached him. He caught sight of the girls awestruck face as she was whisked away. Adrenaline pumping, he followed suit.

Mario could honestly not remember exactly what happened after that. At some point, the crowd below began to scream 'Jumpman! Jumpman! Jumpman!' Mario thought he dodged some pies. But that was impossible. Then there were springs that were trying to kill him. Unlikely. And then, somehow, impossibly, Mario had cornered the big Ape to the top of the building.

Mario was exhausted: beads of sweat were pouring down his face, and he was having problems breathing. He had not done any strenous exercise in nearly four years. Nevertheless, the Ape had no way to escape.

The Ape glared down at Mario with fire in it's eyes. _If you want her back, you're going to have to fight me. _

Mario was not stupid. He was an overweight plumber who's diet consisted of nearly nothing but cheap noodles. It was a miracle he had made it this far. There was no way he could take that thing on in a direct fight.

Indirectly though, maybe there was something...

Mario began to work on the small screws in the support structure directly below the great Ape using nothing more then the small knife he had been using for whittling in what seemed like forever ago. As the last screw popped out, the ape fell down several stories right on top of it's cranium. The crowd cheered as Mario climbed the final ladder and slowly staggered towards the girl.

"Hey... are you alright?"

He never heard her reply, as the exhaustion of what had transpired took it's toll, and he collaspsed.

It didn't make him look like less of a hero.

A/N: Hmph. I'm annoyed at my narrative style. Well, this chapter is a bit short too, but I'm hoping the quick update makes up for the other short chapter.

Anyway, I have been asked as to why Wario and Waluigi and Daisy were not mentioned in the 'human population poll' well, to be honest, I sort of forgot about them. But! That was because I knew Wario and Waluigi were either not going to be part of this story, or not as residents of the Mushroom Kingdom if they do appear. I'm not really sure yet which direction I want to take, but I'll make up my mind soon.

I think I might need some help in writing combat scenes... I feel as if this time I was limited because of what I was referencing (A historical battle, that shall be remembered for as long as there are videogames) instead of an original fight. I'd still like some pointers though.

Okay. Hopefully, the plot will pick up and I'll have a good reason to write longer chapters. I can't wait!


	4. An Old Friend

_"It's weird, isn't it? How friends are always willing to support each other."_

Mario walked up to the front desk, and stood there as the lady flipped the page the page of her small paperbook novel with a flourish. Mario cleared his throat, and the lady looked up and noticed him. She smiled as she put the book face down on the desk, and turned to face him properly.

"Hello there. What can I do for you?" She asked.

Although Mario felt strangely odd about having a discussion with a complete stranger that was not begging for an autograph, he took it in stride, and plowed ahead. "Is there a Miss Pauline still living here? I'm an old friend."

The lady looked at Mario closely. "Hm. Let me see." She turned towards the small cabinet behind her and pulled out a small key adorned with a Keychain shaped like a turtle. Mario could not contain his breif flash of amusement at this, and chuckled. The Lady did not notice, however, and jammed the key into the lock and twisted, bringing forth a drawer filled with all sorts of papers.

"Hmm... Pauline... Pauline..." The lady murmured as she flipped through folders. "Ah. Here we go. Only Pauline we have in here. Is this her?" She held up a photograph of a smiling woman in her mid twenties.

"Yes. Does she still live here?"

"Ah, no. Sorry about that. Seems she moved away a few years ago. In '99. She didn't leave any sort of hint as to where she was going. No forwarding address or anything."

Mario thanked the woman, and left the building.

As he walked the streets of New York, Mario could not for the life of him help but wonder where Pauline had gone. If her own building didn't know where she went, Mario had no idea where else he could go to ask.

Mario honestly did not feel comfortable in seeking out any of his old friends. He had lost contact with many of them after High School, and by the time he was forced to venture to the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi was pretty much the only constant person in his life.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. He had gotten to know Pauline a little while before that, but they didn't really become close until they had both left the city.

Mario did not have any place to sleep, and that was an issue. The Mushroom Kingdom had absolutely no contact with the people of this country, so Mushroom Kingdom coins were completely worthless. He was probably going to have to sleep under a bridge or something when the exhaustion hit. He had slept in weirder places before.

His feet led him down streets, past cars and hundreds of other people. It was difficult to not stop and stare at all the people. They inhabited many ethniticities, but as a whole, they were all certainly human.

"Daddy, daddy, I wanna see the bout!" A small child, probably no more then four or five years old, was walking towards Mario, hand in hand with an older man. His other hand contained a small red balloon, which was constantly being jerked this way and that. "Why can't I come too?"

"I really am sorry. But they were only giving away two tickets at work, and your mom really wants to go." The man said soothingly, stroking the child's fingers. "maybe next time."

"But I wanna auto-graph!" The child wailed. Mario turned his head slightly as the duo passed him, but made no comment.

"I'll get you his autograph." The father promised. "In the meantime, do you want to see Jumpman? We still have time enough to make a quick stop."

"Yeah! Jumpman!" The child squeled, bouncing up and down.

On impulse, Mario changed his direction to follow the two down two more blocks. There, in i all it's finished glory, was the building where it had all started twenty years ago.

Mario stood there for a few moments, standing in awe. If he had not been specifically looking for it, he would have missed the building altogether. As he stared at the building for a period of time, he could not help but notice a small gathering of people at the base of the building. He waited for the signal for him to cross the street and went to go investigate.

Six or seven people were standing in front of a small statue. As Mario came closer, he noticed that the image was his own, twenty years ago. Somebody must have decided to place it here as some kind of tourist attraction. There were words scrawled in the plague at the Statue's feet:

**On July Ninth, 1981, a beast appeared in this very city. The Monster Ape grabbed a woman, and made off with her to the top of this very same building, while it was under construction. One man took it upon himself to rescue her, and he braved the many dangers of the site, coupled with the prescence of the monster ape, to successfully rescue the woman in question. The Newspapers proceeded to go ahead and refer to the man as 'Jumpman' before his actual identity was revealed, but the man was never found after the incident in question. This statue stands to remind us all to stand and do the right thing. **

"He was really brave, wasn't he?" The kid said, lowering his head. "I can't wait until I get big, then I can be just like the Jumpman!"

The father chuckled, and the two moved away. Mario stood there for a while, looking over at the statue, when suddenly, a hand touched on his shoulder.

"Hey."

Mario turned and found himself facing a younger man, maybe in his twenties. "What is it?" He asked briefly.

"That's a nice costume." The man commented. "That's Jumpman's clothes, am I right?"

"I guess you could say that." Mario said cautiously.

"So you're a Jumper, too?" The man pressed.

"Excuse me?"

"Like, follower of Jumpman. Disciple of Jumpman. The kind of guy who knows everything about Jumpman."

"I guess you could say that." Mario repeated.

"Excellent. Hey, can we go for a drink? It's on me."

Mario had nowhere else to go, and the guy seemed nice enough. So he allowed himself to be steered into the nearest restaurant in town.

"It's not often that I meet another Jumper." The guy said as they sat down at a table. "So forgive me, I'm rather excited."

"For what, now, exactly?"

The TV behind the guys ahead was playing a boxing match. Mario had barely enough time to marvel at the diminuitive size of one of the fighters before the guy answered his question.

"Well, to be honest, I'm a huge fan of Jumpman." He confessed. "I saw the whole thing Twenty years ago, it was really something, let me tell you. Ever since then, I've I've collected Jumpman merchandise, I have the entire TV series on DVD, I bought the limited edition platinum Director's cut of the movie (Which, by the way, I rather liked, even if it wasn't very accurate) and recently I've taken to sculpting pieces of wood into faces, you know, because Jumpman was apparently a carpenter?"

His smile was trying for too hard to come off as 'winning.' And as a result, Mario was a tad bit creeped out by it.

"Well, I've been trying to recreate Jumpman's face from memory, but it hasn't gone so well. I mean, I was five, come on."

Mario was under the impression that he had never met a fan more fervent.

"Well, anyway, I just wanted to ask you: What's your idea on the Quest?"

"The... what?" Mario asked, blankly.

"The quest!" The guy said impatiently. "You know, the search for the identity of Jumpman!"

Mario could not repress the thought that, given the circumstances, if this lunatic were to figure out that the man sitting across from him at this very moment was in the fact the very same person he had been obsessing over for twenty years, he would probably explode from happiness.

"I'm sure he's long gone by now." Mario said dismissively. "He's probably fighting turtles that breathe fire somewhere."

"Yes, yes, yes, that's always a possiblilty." The guy said, his voice quickening. He was getting worked up in his excitement. "Look, I've talked to everyone that was there that day, except for Jumpman himself. The thing is: Nobody knew who he was. He was just some guy, standing in the crowd somewhere, doing his work, when suddenly... bam!" He slammed his hand against the table. "Becomes a hero, and an inspiration for us all."

"You talked to everyone?" Mario asked, his gaze narrowing. Something wasn't right here.

"Everyone who saw the whole thing, anyway. People who were standing right next to me, really."

"What about the girl? Pauline?" Mario asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

The guy stared at Mario for a few seconds. "Yeah." He said. "I spoke to Pauline. How'd you know her name?"

"I'm a Jumper, same as you. Tell me, please."

"It's not really important." He said casually. "I just noticed a small piece in the newspaper saying that woman named Pauline was found alive after being missing for five years, and then I just invited myself over to her place and chatted with her for a while."

"What'd she say to you?" Mario asked.

"It was my only good lead for years." The fanboy went on, ignoring Mario's question. "Actually, I think she was rather fond of me for a while. But then the Krew showed up while we were talking one day, she asked me to leave and I complied. When I came back, she had moved out."

"The Krew?" Mario asked.

"They're a sort of...group, around here." The kid stared at Mario intently. You're not from around here, are you?" 

"I was, a long time ago. I've only come for a short visit. What is it that you want?" Mario was anxious to continue the conversation, if only to find out more about Pauline.

"Well, I'm looking into finding Jumpman. You see, my associates would like to meet the guy, but I have no idea where to start looking. Right now, I'm getting all of my information off the streets."

"To meet... Jumpman?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure why." The kid said carelessly. "I'd imagine it's to get an interview or get some more details to make a movie or something. I don't really mind. I'm getting paid to look for my hero, what else could I want?"

"I don't know anything." Mario said, tapping the table with his finger. "I'm sorry. Really, I am."

"You sure?" The guy pressed. "Come on! You're walking around dressed like the guy, surely you must know something!"

This guy was clearly grabbing for straws. What a lousy reporter, Mario thought.

"Well, maybe I could come up with something." Mario said, his eyes drifting upwards towards the giant television mounted into the wall. Round two had ended, and neither side seemed to be the worse for wear. "That is, if you tell me more about Pauline."

"Why are you interested so much in her, anyway?" The guy sighed, clearly not expecting an answer. Mario did not offer one. "Fine. I really wanted to meet Jumpman, so I tracked Pauline down at her apartment and asked. She refused to say anything on the matter, but she did agree to talk to me about her personal experiences with that overgrown monkey."

"And...?"

"Well, after that, I always came by to see her every once in a while." the guy confessed. "Then, one day, the Krew showed up..."

"Okay, hold it." Mario held up a hand. "This is what I really want to know. "What is this 'Krew?'

"It's like a group of people who do... stuff... look, I don't really know, okay? I don't look into this stuff. All I know is that they have some sort of rivalry with my employers."

"Hmm... Interesting." Mario muttered. A sudden thought crossed his mind. "You know..." He said slowly. "I think I might know how to find Jumpman."

Eyes brimming with fire, the guy learned forward.

"I'm not sure if it'll work though." Mario went on. "If you can give me an address on where your employers workplace is, I'll see if I can send him over."

"Yes, Yes, yes, but how?" He said impatiently.

"Faster you hand it over, the faster I'll get it done."

...

Mario left the restaurant with a piece of napkin with the infomation required scribbled on. He knew this would most likely not lead to Bowser Jr, but it wouldn't hurt to ask Pauline, who, having known Bowser, might have a clue herself on his whereabouts.

Many flashing lights and booming noises were ahead. Mario had never been a naturally curious person (Luigi had always been more inquistive) But it seemed like a crowd, and Bowser Jr, being the gigantic, fire breathing, spiky shelled youngster that he was, was sure to draw some kind of crowd where ever he went.

As Mario sauntered over, the booming noises increased in volume, and the screams increased in volume. Mario had been the victim of those sorts of screams before: They were th sort coming from die hard fans, that literelly worshipped the ground you walked on.

"Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac! Mac!" The crowd chanted.

_"What's going on?"_

Mario pushed his way through the crowd, trying to find the object of everyone's affection.

_"No way... I know this guy."_

Standing next to the young man Mario had just seen on Television, a black man waved cheerfully at the fans, while whispering words into the grinning boy's ear.

_"No way..."_


	5. A Breakthrough

"Louis!" Mario called, pushing through people in the crowd. The crowd parted as one of the men Mario shoved fell onto several people. One of the guys tried to shove Mario back, but Mario's bulk proved too much to him, as Mario did not even notice.

"Jerome!" Mario called, his gaze focused on the large African American man. "Jerome Louis!"

Mario shoved his way through the crowd as the man turned around.

"Jerome!" Mario said, as he bounched up to Jerome and gave him a hug.

"I don't..." The man spluttered. "That can't be... You're... Mario?"

Mario nodded, his heart pounding. Truly, this is what excitement felt like. The joy of finding an old friend after several years apart.

"Mario!" Jerome Louis exclaimed, as he grabbed Mario and brought him into a hug. "You're alive! And you're so much bigger now... What have you been eating, boy?"

"Nothing but Pasta and Mushrooms." Mario said, as he grasped Louis back, nearly lifting him off his feet. "You've grown too." Mario said, as they parted. "Especially around the stomach area."

Louis laughed, as he patted his stomach. "That's what retiring from Boxing does to you, boy!"

"I blame all the Chocolate bars, actually." The boy who was walking along with Louis piped up.

He was a small kid, not exactly tall for his age. Maybe about five and a half feet tall. His short hair was neatly combed, and his entire body was packed with layer upon layer of muscle.

"Ah!" Louis exclaimed. "Mac, this is Mario. He's an old friend of mine."

"I can see that." Mac said, coolly. "I'd rather not stay out here all night, the crowd's pretty intense."

"Yes, yes, yes, Fans are very enthusastic." Louis turned back to Mario. "Hey, come back to our place and we'll give you a welcome dinner. Catch up on old times, what do you say?"

"That sounds nice." Mario said.

The three stepped into the limosuine and sped off into the city streets. Mac seemed rather put off by Mario's prescence. He seemed rather moody. Mario had the feeling that he was intruding on something.

"So, Mario, where in the world did you and your brother disappear too?" Louis said. Never one to hold back what was on his mind, Louis had not seemed to have changed a bit.

"Around." Mario said vaguely.

"Ah, you too with that." Louis grumbled. "When I saw Pauline, she gave me the exact same answer."

"You saw her?" Mario blurted. Louis raised an eyebrow as Mario flushed. "Actually, I went looking for her, first." He professed. "I don't have anywhere to stay at the moment."

"About five years after you, Luigi, and her all disappeared." Louis answered. "As soon as someone told me she was back, I went down to her place to see if she knew where you where. She just told me you were fine, and left it at that."

"Hm. I see."

"Why'd you two break it off, anyway?" Louis asked, curiosity, Mario assumed, driving the question.

"Problems we had." Mario said dismissively. "I wanted to stay where we were, she wanted to go back home. You know."

Louis looked rather thoughtful, as if thinking about what Mario had said.

"So who's this kid?" Mario asked, as he looked over to Mac. The way he had been sitting in stony silence the entire trip had rather gotten on Mario's nerves.

"Are you telling me you don't..." Louis exclaimed. In his shock, he couldn't even form a coherent sentence for a moment.

"What?" Mario asked, well and truly baffled.

"I'm only one of the best boxers in the world right now." Mac said, a bit of pride in his voice. "You need to keep up on the times, man."

"Hm." Mario said, as he looked Mac over. "Is this true, Jerome?"

"Yes! Of course!" Louis said. He had appeared to have gotten over his shock.

"I find that kind of hard to believe, as young as you are." Mario said thoughtfully.

"Just leave me alone!" Mac snapped. "It's true, ask anyone."

He did not have the eyes of a liar, so Mario supposed he was telling the truth.

...

"Well, if it isn't Mario!" Granny Louis exclaimed as Mario stepped into the living room. "My, my!" She stood up out of the same armchair Mario recalled was her favorite from his youth and she gave him a hug. Mario hugged her back, and noted that she looked the same as she ever did. Some people just aged well, he supposed.

"I suppose you're hungry, not having been around in twenty some years!" She said, as she released him and walked over to the door that Mario knew led to the kitchen. "Do you still have a passion for Spaghetti?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Mario said, with a small smile. "Thank you very much."

"Oh, it's nothing, child. Oh!" She turned to Mac, as if she had forgotten something. "You fought well tonight."

"Thanks." Mac said. He gave her a grateful smile. "I appreciate the thought."

Mac retired to his room as Mario and Jerome sat chatting about old times. It was nice to speak to someone Mario was rather fond of that was not Luigi or Peach.

"When did you become a coach?" Mario asked.

"After I lost my title to this guy called Mr. Dream." Jerome said.

"Wait, wait, wait." Mario said, as he leaned forward. "You lost your... title? Of what?"

"World Champ." Louis said.

"Wow." Mario said. "I had no idea."

Dinner was a rather delicious home cooked meal, and Mario found himself eating lotsa spaghetti.

Mario found himself feeling anxious on how to approach Jerome to ask if he could stay here for a while. And yet... the address the boy had given him was still burning in his pocket.

He stood up, and thanked Louis for his hospitality. "I have to see someone." He said. Meeting old friends was nice, but business was much more important.

...

As Mario stepped into the building, he walked up to the secretary, a large female Crocodile wearing large pink glasses, he quickly asked to see the head of the corporation, 'Kremlins and Co.'

The Secretary pointed him down the hall and Mario stepped inside the office of the President.

"Yes, yes, who is-" The President looked shocked for a moment as he lowered a piece of paper he was holding. "Super Mario?"

Mario nodded, as he examined the Kremlin in front of him.

"Shut the door." The President said, quietly as Mario complied. "Mario." The President said. "I can not begin to tell you how pleased I am to see you."

"You've been looking for me, I hear." Mario said. "Why?"

...

A/N: As this chapter is long overdue, I'm going to cut it off here and start fresh with a new chapter. I can not stay motivated right now, ugh.


	6. Breakthrough Part II

"As you know," The President began, as he sat back into his chair. "Many years ago Koopas and Kremlins alike were ruled under by the Powerful King Koopa."

"You're referring to the father of the current King Bowser, right?" Mario asked. As Mario never had much to do with Kremlins, he had to admit his knowledge of their history was somewhat lacking.

The President nodded. "Yes, and under his rule, our people prospered."

"By scourging across the face of the earth, murdering every species that refused to join you." Mario said coolly.

The President sighed. "King Koopa was incredibly ambitious, and much more fearsome then King Bowser by far. He built his kingdom from nothing, and expanded the Koopa Empire across the globe."

Mario was intriqued: Any sort of story that took place before the founding of the Mushroom Kingdom was incredibly hard to come by, as the Koopa Empire, the world's only Superpower, destroyed much of the history of the planet in only a few decades. Historians had trouble piecing together the facts. Besides the fact that at one point most of the planet was flooded with water, no one knew of anything before King Koopa began his reign.

"King Koopa set out to create a world that revolved around him, and he had the strength to see it through." The President said. "Most Historians do not even know how long his reign lasted, as his philosophy was 'there was nothing before I.' Before such a powerful being, most of the people began to believe it."

"He never lost a War, if the books are correct." Mario mused. The President nodded. "Aye, there were several reasons for that, but that is not important for now. Our story begins with his downfall."

"Princess Peach."

"Well, Yes." He said, as he adjusted himself in his seat. "Princess Toadstool's arrival was most certainly ideal. As an infant she was discovered by a village of toads while she was being carried by a Yoshi that did not speak any of our languages. The Toads took them in, and the Yoshi became a sort of guardian of sorts, protecting the town from goomba thugs and the like."

Mario gripped his chair's armrest, nearly breaking it in two. "And-" He pressed.

"The Kingdom's Military strength was only as strong as it's leader. As long as King Koopa was feeling up to it, he could decimate entire Kingdoms on a whim, if he so chose. But around the time Princess Toadstool was found, he began to feel ill."

"He allowed his infant son to run affairs of state in his absence, isn't that right?" Mario asked, his brain whirring. The President once again nodded.

"That is correct. Bowser took the throne at a mere few months of age, but he was far too young to understand exactly what he was doing. He felt that his father had loaned him a very nice toy, and he was sure to play with it to the best his imagination could offer."

"To do what?"

"Why, to do anything his heart desired. He took to the Skies on his custom airship, explored Yoshi's Island with his Royal Babysitter, played Pirate for a while." He chuckled at this. "Of course, he was far too young to even think of such things as politics, but as he was not causing any incidents that would lead to the ruin of the Koopa empire, many saw him as an adorable child and grew to love him."

"Not a good way to raise a child, to be sure." Mario said. The President laughed.

"Indeed!" He said. "And yet, during this time, the Kingdom was at it's weakest. The Military had grown far too reliant on King Koopa's Wrath to level opponents, and they had to find ways to increase their budget. It got to the point that the Koopa Empire, the world's only Superpower could have been invaded by a bunch of children waving pointy sticks."

"Lots of races didn't like that." Mario said.

"That is the point I am making." He said. "Many races saw the weak Kingdom, and decided to abandon it, and return to their ancestral homes. Reasons among this were varied, but I'll stick to the Kremlin version. Our royal heir, Prince K. Rool, was tired of living in King Koopa's shadow. The Royal Navy that we built was used as nothing more then a playground for Prince Bowser, and as we never received any orders to deploy our ships, they were rusting before our very eyes."

"You just took the boats and fled, then?" Mario asked.

"Well, we were sure to raise some funds to outfit our home Island with newer weapons, as we had not used it as a Military spot in many years." the President admitted. "Then, Prince K. Rool became our king, and led us well. At first."

"The King Koopa had died by this time, isn't that right?"

"Well, yes. Then the Empire pretty much collapsed onto itself, but that's another matter entirely."

'So who is K. Rool?" Mario asked.

"Well, a long time ago he was prideful and a visionary." The President said. "Now, he is nothing less then insane. He is our problem, Super Mario, and I was hoping you could help us."

"I see." Mario said, slowly. "What is it that you want me to do?" The President stood up.

"Thank you, Mario. Thank you very much." The Kremlin said, as he bowed. "Indeed, it means so much to us..."

"I'm rather busy at the moment, though." Mario said. "I'm looking for someone, and I'm not sure how I can help you in the first place. Can you tell me your race's condition? Like, how they feel on the issue and stuff?"

"Of course, Mario." He said. "We know all about your search for Baby Bowser. It is why we came here. You see," He cleared his throat. "We are out of options. Several of us have left our Island, and have sought refuge in this city. K. Rool has a few dedicated people still loyal to them, most of them involved with our navy." He paused. "Actually, our only military equiment at the moment is Naval, as K. Rool has built a gigantic ship of metal designed to be a weapon of war, and has moved everyone of our people onto it to work."

"... What?" Mario asked.

"Of course, the machine had been nearly sank on it's first official mission, and K. Rool will not allow anyone back home until his enemies are destroyed." The President said.

"Wow." Mario said softly. "What about your people? The ones that escaped?"

"Most of us are trying to find a new home to go to." He said.

"I suppose..." Mario said softly. "I suppose that when I go back home, I can ask Princess Peach to set up a spot for you, like some sort of reservation."

...

That was probably several steps in the right direction, Mario thought as he walked back to Louis's place. The Kremlins had people all over town who would help look for Bowser. Indeed, he could probably go back now and get the whole deal settled with Princess Peach and come back to find Baby Bowser in the President's office.

Except that would be rather irresponsible of him, wouldn't it? Who was he to turn back on a commitment if it had not been completed successfully? There was still no telling whether Bowser Junior was in danger or not, so perhaps it would be right to stick around a bit longer.

...


	7. I Have to Say

I have to say, I really do not appreciate it when people refuse to review. I'm holding the next ten chapters hostage until I reach the 100 + Mark.

Thank you, and have a nice day.


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